CBN & AMCON Sell Polaris Bank To SCIL For N50 Billion 

The House of Representatives approved the sale of the bank on Wednesday, noting that the transaction followed established protocol and the necessary presidential sanction.

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

Strategic Capital Investment Limited (‘SCIL’) has officially announced the signing of a Share Purchase Agreement (SPA) for the acquisition of 100% of the government’s stock in Polaris Bank by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON).

The House of Representatives approved the sale of the bank on Wednesday, noting that the transaction followed established protocol and the necessary presidential sanction.

Osita Nwanisobi, director of corporate communications at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), made the announcement yesterday on behalf of the CBN and AMCON. It was revealed that SCIL had paid an upfront consideration of N50 billion to acquire 100% of the equity in Polaris Bank and had also agreed to the terms of the agreement, which include the full repayment of the sum of N1.305 trillion, which represents the consideration bonds injected.

According to the statement, “the CBN thus received an immediate return for the value it has created in Polaris Bank during the stabilization period, as well as ensuring that all funds originally provided to support the intervention are recovered.”

The statement added, “The sale was coordinated by a Divestment Committee (the ‘Committee’) comprising representatives of the CBN and AMCON, and advised by legal and financial consultants. The Committee conducted a sale process by ‘private treaty’, as provided in Section 34(5) of the AMCON Act to avoid negative speculations, retain value and preserve financial system stability.   

“In the process, parties who had formally expressed an interest in acquiring Polaris Bank, subsequent to the CBN intervention in 2018, were invited to submit financial and technical proposals. Invitations to submit proposals were sent to 25 pre-qualified interested parties, out of which three (3) parties eventually submitted final purchase proposals following technical evaluation. 

“All submissions were subject to a rigorous transaction process from which SCIL emerged as the preferred bidder having presented the most comprehensive technical/financial purchase proposal as well as the highest rated growth plans for Polaris Bank.”

The sale of the bank, according to the CBN Governor, Mr. Godwin Emefiele,  “marks the completion of a landmark intervention in a strategic institution in the Nigerian banking sector by the CBN and AMCON.” at the time.

As you may remember, Polaris Bank was founded to take over the assets and certain liabilities of the former Skye Bank Plc when the Central Bank of Nigeria intervened to revoke its license in 2018. Since then, Polaris has been functioning as a bridge bank.